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* Presidents, CEOs, fans pay tribute to Jobs * Apple co-founder transformed lives of millions * Jobs praised as "a dreamer and a doer" * Apple shares up 1 percent (Updates links to stories, graphics, Breakingviews; updates shares) By Jennifer Saba NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Outpourings of public grief and appreciation swept the globe on Thursday after the death of Apple (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs, who touched the daily lives of countless millions of people through the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad, died on Wednesday at age 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He stepped down as Apple chief executive in August. Reaction in the stock market was muted as Apple shares quickly recovered from an initial 1.5 percent decline. The shares were up 1 percent to $382.15 at midday. In New York City, an impromptu memorial made from flowers, candles and a dozen green and red apples was erected outside a 24-hour Apple store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, with fans snapping photos of it on their iPhones. "It was really sad news for us," said Daiichiro Tashiro, 25, visiting from Tokyo. "A lot of Japanese use the iPhone. We're here to thank him." <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Obituary [ID:nN1E79424F] Apple's lead over rivals could narrow [ID:nL3E7L61B9] Breakingviews - Apple's impact [ID:nN1E7950GQ] Jobs a god for designers [ID:nL5E7L6347] Factbox - Apple's history and milestones [ID:nN1E794246] Graphic - Jobs profile link.reuters.com/tag34s ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> Tributes poured in both from ordinary people and from the pinnacles of the business and political worlds. "He's the hero to everybody of this generation because he did something that I think is very hard, which is be both a dreamer and a doer," General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Jeff Immelt told reporters in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday. "I wouldn't be able to run my business without Apple, without its software," said David Chiverton, who was leaving Apple's flagship Regent Street store in London. "I run a video production company. It's allowed me to have my dream business." News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said, "Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation." At an Apple store in Sydney, lawyer George Raptis, who was five years old when he first used a Macintosh computer, spoke for almost everyone who has come into contact with Apple. "He's changed the face of computing," he said. "There will only ever be one Steve Jobs." U.S. President Barack Obama remembered Jobs as a visionary. "Steve was among the greatest of American innovators -- brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it," Obama said in a statement. Microsoft's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Bill Gates, who once triumphed over Jobs but saw his legendary status overtaken by the Apple co-founder in recent years, said, "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor." Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Stephen Elop, whose company competes with Apple's iPhone in the handset market, said, "The world lost a true visionary today. Steve's passion for simplicity and elegance leaves us all a legacy that will endure for generations." When he stepped down as CEO in August, Jobs handed the reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook. With a passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for the company to continue to flourish after his death, most analysts and investors say. But Apple still faces challenges in the absence of the man who was its chief product designer, marketing guru and salesman nonpareil. Phones running Google's (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Android software are gaining share in the smartphone market, and there are questions about what Apple's next big product will be. LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR A college drop-out and the son of adoptive parents, Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today. The rebel streak that was central to his persona got him tossed out of Apple in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the roll-out of a troika of products -- the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- that again upended the established order in major industries. A diagnosis of a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 initially cast only a mild shadow over Jobs and Apple, with the CEO asserting that the disease was treatable. But his health deteriorated rapidly over the past several years, and after two temporary leaves of absence he stepped down as CEO and became Apple's chairman in August. Jobs's death came just one day after Cook presented a new iPhone at the kind of gala event that became Jobs's trademark. Perhaps coincidentally, the new device got lukewarm reviews, with many saying it wasn't a big enough improvement over the existing version of one of the most successful consumer products in history. Apple paid homage to its visionary leader by changing its website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011." On Google's home page, the same line appeared just below its search box. It was a link to the Apple site. (For related stories, see TAKE A LOOK at [ID:nN1E79421F].) (Reporting by Jennifer Saba; additional reporting by Sinead Carew and Liana Baker in New York; Scott Malone in Columbus, Ohio; Sarah McBride in Cupertino, California; Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Edwin Chan in Los Angeles; Matt Cowan in London; and Amy Pyett in Sydney; editing by John Wallace)

Jan 11 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL: -- The first cracks have appeared in the NDP's massive Quebec base, fuelling the sense the leaderless party is losing momentum in the province that is key to its dreams of forming the next government. -- The Conservative government's 2012 budget will mean deep cuts for some departments while others will get off more lightly as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he wants to protect the direct delivery of services to Canadians. Reports in business section: -- Embattled Sino-Forest Corp is warning that its historic financial statements and audit reports should not be relied upon. The Canada-listed and Hong-Kong-headquartered forestry company said in a statement that it still can't release its third quarter financial statements because it hasn't been able to determine the nature of certain relationships between the company and its business partners. NATIONAL POST: -- Canadian half pipe freestyle skier Sarah Burke was in critical condition and in a coma Tuesday night after being airlifted to hospital in Salt Lake City, following a crash in the halfpipe at a sponsors event at Park City, Utah earlier in the day. Reports in Financial Post section: -- An expected confrontation between environmentalists and the oil community over Enbridge Inc's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline did not spill over into historic public hearings that started here Tuesday. But federal regulators charged with deciding whether the project is in the national interest were faced with a different clash that will prove tough to reconcile: a clash of values between First Nations and those favouring development in the rest of the country.

SHANGHAI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The number of Internet users in China have crossed the half billion mark, reaching 505 million users at the end of November last year, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported. The Internet penetration rate stood at 37.7 percent, up 3.4 percent over the end of 2010, CNNIC said in a report released late last month. This compares with Internet penetration rates of more than 70 percent for China's more technologically advanced East Asian neighbours, Japan and South Korea. At the end of November, the number of microblog users exceeded 300 million, jumping from 195 million at the end of June, a CNNIC report released on Wednesday said, according to the official Xinhua News agency. In December, the Beijing city government said it would tighten control over popular microblogs that have vexed authorities with their rapid dissemination of news, giving users three months to register with their real names or face legal consequences. Sina Corp, the dominant force in China's microblogging, or Weibo, scene, is said to be contemplating the ways it can implement this rule in order to verify users' identities.